It's hard for me to assess this situation due to the cost of living in CA and not knowing what comparable salaries are in your area. However, it does sound like you're overvaluing yourself given your experience. Truth be told, you don't have the kind of development experience that companies are looking for. Database reporting and analysis isn't anything earth shattering, and one year of experience at anything is only about 0.0001% better than none at a..... especially when it's perl, which - in the grand scheme of things - is not applicable. They were looking for a Java developer and you had ZERO professional experience with it.
In my opinion, they were offering you a golden opportunity to make a little more than your current salary, with fantastic benefits, while you got to learn valuable new skills at their risk.
I think you got greedy. Honestly, you're not the first developer to do this. A lot of people - and I did this, too when I first started - think they're worth a gajillion dollars once they start feeling comfortable in their own skin.
If you can back peddle on this without sounding desperate, do it.
If they call you back and explain that they think their offer was reasonable, tell them you'd like to accept it and explain that you really hadn't taken all factors into consideration when you countered.
I'm a .NET/Java developer/lead and considered a "go-to" guy in my area. The last position I took I was able to negotiate an additional 5%, and honestly, that was pretty tough and they wanted me very badly (said I was the best interview they ever had). The only reason I was able to get that additional 5% is because the original offer was only $2,000 over what I was already making, which in hindsight, they agreed wasn't right.
I'm not saying you should never counter or only counter if you're uber1337 and in high demand, but most of the time people think they're worth a lot more than they are. This is 2006. The tech boom is GONE. But if you're going to counter, you do it because you think the original offer wasn't fair, NOT simply because you want more money. There's a big difference.
I'm responsible for hiring new developers, and I've noticed that once people get a year or two under their belts, they think they're worth as much as someone who's been doing it for ten years. Frankly, I've learned that one year of experience is enough to make someone dangerous. They haven't mastered the ins and outs of production development, but they know enough to be dangerous and over confident. Unless I'm talking to someone who's obviously willing to be "molded" a little bit, I would rather spend an additional $5,000 on someone with 5 years of experience.
Good luck.